Two Olive Oil Dips with garlic & herbsa preview of recipes featured in "Cooking for the King, the Chanukah edition"

Shemen Tov~Shemen Tov, or “Good Oil” is a classic in our house. Garlic lovers can't get enough and always ask me for this recipe.

Herb Mix for Olive Oil-~a mix to keep on hand and sprinkle over a dish of good quality olive oil for an easy and elegant (QIK style) dip for bread.

SHEMEN TOV ~from Cooking for The King, the Chanukah edition

10 garlic cloves, peeled

2 green onions

1/2 cup fresh parsley

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Place garlic, green onions and parsley into the work bowl of a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. Do not puree.

2. Scrape contents of work bowl into a sealable container. Add oil, vinegar and salt. Chill for several hours before serving. Keeps in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for one week. Allow to reach room temperature before serving.

QIK Herb Mix for Olive Oil Dip~~fromCooking for The King, the Chanukah edition

A healthy alternative to serving margarine with bread is this earthy herb mixture. Pour good quality olive oil into a small plate, sprinkle with Herb Dip. Swirl in a piece of fresh challah. Presto-it is about as good as passage to an authentic Italian trattoria. Plus, the kids like it!

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup fresh parsley

3 cloves garlic, peeled

2 teaspoons dried thyme

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons black pepper

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon fresh or dried rosemary

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1. In the work bowl of a food processor, combine all ingredients and pulse until herbs and garlic are minced. Keep refrigerated, in a tightly sealed container, for 1 week.

2. To serve, pour olive oil into a small dish. Sprinkle oil with herb blend.

Makes: 1/3 cup ~ Can make ahead ~ Active time: 5 minutes

Olive oil dips are wonderful on challah but they are also delicious with tossed with pasta for an easy weeknight dinner or mix a tablespoon or two into this vinaigrette dressing recipe to give your salad an extra punch of flavor